The 10 foreigners Singapore police arrested last week in a billion-dollar money-laundering case were reported at the time to be citizens from a range of countries including China, Vanuatu, Cyprus, Türkiye and Cambodia.
However, all also had passports believed to have been issued by various other countries.
So where were these alleged money launderers really from and how might they have obtained all those passports?
What were the raids about?
Police said 400 officers fanned out across the city state last Tuesday, August 15, and launched simultaneous raids on residences at least nine locations, netting assets totalling $S1 billion ($1.15 billion).
These included 94 properties, bank accounts with $S110 million, 50 vehicles, cash amounting to more than $S23 million, hundreds of luxury handbags and watches, fistfuls of jewellery and two gold bars.
The foreigners arrested were aged between 31 and 44, including a 40-year-old Cypriot national who jumped out of the second-floor balcony of his bungalow and was found hiding in a drain.
Twelve more were "assisting with investigations" and eight are still wanted, police said.
A police statement said the group was suspected to be laundering proceeds from overseas organised crime, including "scams and online gambling" and were charged with offences including money laundering, forgery and resisting arrest.
Some were found with one or even two extra passports for different countries.
David Chew, director of commercial affairs at the police force, said Singapore had "zero tolerance" for being used as a safe haven for criminals or their families and for banking facilities to be abused.
"Our message to these criminals is simple — if we catch you, we will arrest you. If we find your ill-gotten gains, we will seize them. We will deal with you to the fullest extent of our laws," he said.
Isn't Singapore supposed to be 'squeaky clean'?
Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore told the ABC that despite Singapore's reputation for strict enforcement of the law, it was actually an attractive place to set up shop for money launderers.
"Singapore offers criminals, crooks and kleptocrats one of the world's top secrecy jurisdictions to stash their illicit finances and proceeds from crime," Mr Moore said.
"It's home to many regional banking institutions, has a very low corporate tax and people can create company structures with a click of a mouse.
"For example, we know that many organised crime gangs and authoritarian regimes like the Myanmar junta use Singapore as their financial hub to clean their dirty money."
Where were the suspects originally from?
Among the nine men and one woman arrested were three citizens of China, three of Cambodia, one of Vanuatu, one of Türkiye and two of Cyprus.
However, in the days following the raids it emerged that all were originally from China's Fujian province.
Among the items seized were extra passports for the suspects — in addition to their nominal citizenship — that police believed were issued by countries including Vanuatu, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cambodia and Dominica.
Many countries have pathways to citizenship through investment, though some pathways are much shorter than others.
Countries that still have fast-track schemes taking just months include Türkiye, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Dominica.
The EU last year suspended Vanuatu's visa waiver agreement over its lucrative "golden passport" scheme amid concerns it lacked due diligence and could pose security and money-laundering risks.
The scheme, which accounted for about a third of Vanuatu's government revenue in 2020, allowed people to buy citizenship for $US130,000.
Cyprus cancelled its Citizenship by Investment Program in 2020 following an Al Jazeera investigation into its use by criminals.
In the wake of the Singapore police operation, Cypriot MP Irene Charalambidou asked for a full briefing from the interior ministry, the Cyprus Mail reported.
"The international stigmatisation of our country as a result of the abuse behind the golden passports should be immediately managed by the competent minister, so their passports are revoked," she said.
The Phnom Penh Post reported that three of the suspects had received Cambodian citizenship through naturalisation in 2018 and 2019.
Why might the suspects have extra passports?
Mr Moore said obtaining additional citizenships was useful for money launderers.
"Citizenship makes it easier for money launderers to set-up company structures and buy property and invest in a new country so as to avoid detection and regulation," he said.
"Many countries set up golden visa and passport schemes to attract investment and business.
"Over the last decade, corrupt public officials and business people have bought up golden passports and visas, helping to conceal their assets and identities."
Mr Moore said scandals had demonstrated that these opaque schemes were not about genuine investment or migration.
"Since the invasion in Ukraine, Russians are making up a majority of people who have acquired citizenship using this route," he said.
"Transparency International Australia has argued for years that fast-track investment migration schemes are riddled with corruption risks and enable money laundering.
"In Australia and parts of Europe, controversial golden visa programs have been scrapped in recent years due to concerns with rorting, risks of money laundering and general integrity of the schemes."
ABC/Reuters
15 months' jail for fifth person linked to Singapore's largest money laundering case, longest jail term so far
SINGAPORE — A 45-year-old man linked to Singapore’s largest money laundering case was sentenced to 15 months' jail on Tuesday (April 30).
He is the fifth of 10 accused persons to be dealt with in relation to the case.
Zhang Ruijin pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of forgery-related offences and one of failing to satisfactorily account for property reasonably suspected to be benefits from criminal conduct.
Another five similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Zhang, a Chinese national, was initially charged with three counts of forgery-related offences and last Friday was handed five additional charges involving forgery and his inability to account for about S$36 million that flowed into his bank accounts.
Zhang's 15-month jail term — to be backdated by about eight months to the date of his arrest last August — is the harshest meted out so far in relation to the S$3 billion case.
The four others dealt with before him were handed between 13 and 14 months' jail each.
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Zhang was one of 10 individuals arrested during an islandwide raid on Aug 15, 2023 as part of the authorities’ crackdown on suspected money laundering activities.
Over S$131 million worth of assets comprising cash, cryptocurrency and vehicles, among others, were seized from Zhang.
The court heard that between July and October 2020, deposits amounting to HK$138,179,100 (S$24 million) were made into Zhang’s CIMB account in Singapore.
When the bank asked the accused to explain the source of the monies and provide documentary support, Zhang claimed that the funds came from him selling a property in Macau.
He later submitted a document dated June 20, 2020 purportedly showing the sale.
Prosecutors said Zhang knew this was a forged document because he did not own such a property to begin with, and that he had obtained the document from a person specifically to back up his claim to the bank.
He had similarly provided CIMB another forged document some time in August 2020.
This time, the document purportedly showed that he received a loan of HK$7.5 million, to account for a deposit of such an amount into his account.
Zhang failed to satisfactorily account for his possession of this sum, which is reasonably suspected to represent benefits of criminal conduct, at least indirectly or in part. This became the subject of the third charge against him.
'UNDERMINED CONFIDENCE' IN SINGAPORE BANKING SYSTEM
The prosecution sought a total sentence of between 14 and 16 months' jail for the offences.
They noted the transnational element in Zhang's offences, adding that there was some level of "sophistication" involved in the forgery-related charges, which were done to circumvent anti-money laundering measures.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim said: "Offences which affect the delivery of financial services or the integrity of the economic infrastructure do attract (a need for) general deterrence, and our submission is that this is precisely such a case".
The defence asked for a slightly lower sentence of not more than 14 months' jail.
Defence lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam cited as mitigating factors his client's guilty plea, his cooperation with the authorities and the voluntarily giving up of his assets.
He added that "all show that this is a man who is sorry for what he has done".
In sentencing, District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong said the court needs to send a strong signal that money laundering offences cannot be tolerated and will be dealt with severely.
More at https://www.todayonline.com/news/15-months-jail-fifth-person-linked-singapores-largest-money-laundering-case-longest-jail-term-so-far-2413821